Christina Daley opens up on being married to the Opposition Leader

She is less than a week away from possibly becoming the state’s First Lady. Christina Daley opens up about her first meeting with now husband and Premier-wannabe Michael Daley and what her children think of his politics.

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Her husband is vying for the most powerful job in NSW but Christina Daley isn’t spending her days thinking about life as the state’s potential First Lady.

Instead the self-confessed “suburban parent” is busy packing lunch boxes, running children to and from school and juggling work commitments.

“I just have to make sure that I’m always here and that I keep doing what I’m doing,” the wife of opposition leader Michael Daley said.

“He needs to be out there every day, every moment of the day, talking to people and just telling them what he’s all about.”

In his bid to become the Premier of NSW, the Maroubra MP has taken just two days off in the past four months.

“It is the nature of the job and I understand that fully,” the 46-year-old said of her spouse’s workload.

Christina Daley, wife of NSW Labor leader Michael Daley, pictured at her Chifley home in Sydney today. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

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Each weekday, Mrs Daley wakes at 6.30am to start getting the couple’s two children — Olivia, 12 and Austin, 8 — ready for school, spending half an hour preparing their lunches.

“I’m one of those nude food kind of people — no wrappers, no nothing,” she said.

“Everything gets packed so we’ve got nothing to throw out.”

Mrs Daley has two older children from her first marriage, 27-year-old Alison, a make-up artist living in Melbourne, and Jake, 20.

The legal secretary met Mr Daley in 1997 at the photocopier when he was employed as a law clerk at a CBD firm.

“I had seen him walk around but never actually had a conversation with him or got to know him,” Mrs Daley told The Sunday Telegraph in her first interview.

“My first impression of him was he was actually very funny.”

Over time, the pair became friends and Mrs Daley said she slowly “got to know his personality and what he was all about”.

When her first marriage ended, the couple “got a little bit closer” but Mrs Daley moved to Perth for a year to be near her parents and “just concentrate on the kids”.

During their time apart, the pair crisscrossed the country visiting each other before Mrs Daley decided the relationship was serious.

A younger Michael and Christina Daley. Image: Supplied

The couple at a recent event. Image: Supplied

“I wasn’t prepared to move back unless there was a reason for me to move back,” she said.

Mrs Daley said her older children get along well with Mr Daley but they have very little interest in politics.

“They’ll listen when Michael talks about it and show some interest but other than that, no,” she said.

“They actually open up to him all the time about their own personal things and what they’re doing next.”

Even during the early days of their relationship, Mrs Daley knew her 53-year-old husband wanted to pursue a political career.

Last month Mrs Daley had her first taste of “of how dirty politics can be” after Mr Daley’s office was attacked for using a “secret hotline” to transfer a speeding fine into his wife’s name.

“It was actually an awkward and terrible moment because I thought to myself, I was driving and the fact that they made him look bad but also me look bad,” she said of her “first and only” speeding fine.

Michael and Christina Daley have four children between them — Alison, Olivia, Austin, and Jake. Picture: Supplied

“It made him look like he was doing something wrong when he wasn’t.

“I had to sign a stat dec because the cars are all under his name so obviously that is why he got the fine.”

Married in December 2005, the couple live in a quiet street in Sydney’s east, with Mrs Daley saying her husband is very handy around the house, building a retaining wall in the backyard and a cubby house.

“He does do a lot — he never sits down,” she said.

“Michael comes home, regardless of how many hours of work he’s put in, he will stand in that kitchen and help me wipe up or put things in the dishwasher.”

Born in Mauritius before moving to Sydney when she was aged 13, Mrs Daley works two days a week at the same law firm where she met Mr Daley.

She also became a trained beauty therapist last year and is planning to work alongside one of her sisters, who runs Miss Franc, a clinic at Paddington offering “injectables”.

With one week left of the campaign, Mrs Daley is hoping her family might be able to take off for the weekend “away from phones” after the election — but admits “it will be a different story” if Mr Daley becomes Premier.

“I have no control as to what will happen after that — no control whatsoever,” she said.